(Newser)
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Bucking a nationwide trend, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is polishing a bill to allow late-term abortions even when a woman's life is not at risk, the New York Times reports. But her health would still have to be in danger, or the fetus not viable, for any abortion after 24 weeks. The law is also designed to resist any possible collapse of Roe v. Wade, and would shift abortion from state penal law to health law to further ease doctors' concerns over late-term abortions.
Getting it through the Democrat-controlled State Assembly should be easy, the Times notes, but a coalition of Republicans in the Senate have usually opposed expanded abortion rights. And anti-abortion forces are already taking exception: "It’s as though, in their minds, our state motto, ‘Excelsior’ (‘Ever Upward’), applies to the abortion rate," writes Timothy Dolan, New York's archbishop. Cuomo touts the law as one part of his 10-point Women's Equality Act, which will include provisions for anti-discrimination and equal pay. (See what kind of abortion bills the GOP has been serving up around the country.)
